Warren Gatland hints at resting players in first five Lions matches

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland will rest his frontline players in the opening five matches of their tour to New Zealand. Photo / Photosport.

The British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland is wary of giving too much away to the All Blacks in the opening five matches on their tour of the country in the coming weeks.

Gatland made his tactical ideas for the first few matches clear ahead of his side's departure from London to New Zealand overnight.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Gatland said he was conscious of giving Steve Hansen's side too much to work with in the lead up to the prestigious Test series.

"It's obvious that in the first five games you're not going to show everything, you're not going to show your hand," he said.

"We have to make things uncomfortable for them. They're used to things happening for them all the time. You've got to be able to challenge them a bit.

"What I've learned on past tours is that the whole thing is about a Test series. The warm-up games and lead-up games are for the Test series.

"Yes you want to perform well, but if you drop a game because you're trying something then it's not the end of the world. The important thing is not to get hung-up about those things, not to worry too much about that."

The first side to face a weakened Lions outfit will be the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians, who will open the tour this Saturday in Whangarei.

The next four sides to take on the depleted Lions side after their encounter with the Barbarians are the Blues, Crusaders, Highlanders and Maori All Blacks.

The Maori All Blacks will be looking to repeat their 2005 exploits where they defeated the tourists 19-13 in Hamilton, while the three Super Rugby franchises will be bubbling at the prospect of facing the historic representative side for the first time in their 21-year history.

They will not have the prestige of facing the top tier players within the Lions squad however, with Gatland placing the Test matches as his priority for the tour.

"In 2009 the South Africans had pulled their players out of the provincial games. We won those games reasonably comfortably, and in the first Test we were under-done, under-cooked. In 2013 we played too many games that were too easy.

"The focus changed in that first Test, thinking, if we're going to win this tour, after 2009, we'll have to protect as many of the Test players as we could before that first one. I know we could have put out a stronger team against the Brumbies, and won that, but it may have cost us the series."

If Gatland stays true to his word, the first side who can expect to face a close to full-strength team will be the Chiefs on June 20, the last provincial match before the first match of the Test series.